You may recall my review of the Low Cost Motorcycle Audio by Shark back in 2009 . Well given to my penchant for low-cost but high value products, I now have a new Shark set up. This is the Shark SHKCYCLEKIT audio 2 speakers+amp . Now don’t get me wrong… I didn’t need it. The existing set-up is perfectly adequate. But when I saw the really cool bullet speakers, all chrome and shiny, my inner-kid kicked in and I simply had to have it. And well… I’m ever-so-happy I got it. Read on.

The Specs (Taken from the Shark website)

Amplifier:

• Working Voltage 10-16V DC
• MAX power @ 4 50WX2
• RMS power @4 25WX2
• THD 50dB
• Channel separation >50dB
• Frequency response 20Hz-20kHz
• Sensitivity 150mv
• N.W. 1.5kg
• G.W. 1.7kg
• Fuse rating 5A

Loudspeakers:

• Each speaker is 3 inches
• Working Voltage 10-16V DC
• VoiceCoil Impedance: 4
• Resonc Frequency: 165HZ
• Effective Frequency Range: Fo-12kHZ
• Puiput Sound Pressure Level: 88dB
• Rated Input Power: 15W
• Max Input Power: 30W
• Distortion: <= 5%

Installation:

Like with my fist Shark set-up, the kit includes a pair of speakers, an amp, and all the brackets and wiring necessary to get everything installed without even one trip to the hardware store.

The actual installation was dead easy. Though I must qualify that. I’ve installed and removed, and installed all of the doo-dads on my bike so many times, I can pretty much do it with my eyes closed. I don’t believe I’m overstating it though… the brackets are easy to use, no puzzles to figure out, and go on with simple tools.  In this case I used the existing wiring so there was no splicing & soldering. Pretty much plug and play.

My only criticism would be the mounting brackets for the speakers. Which are in my view, useless. They’re really nothing more than a single flat piece of chromed metal with a single hole for some screw or bolt or something to slip through. In truth this left me with one mounting option. Under the mirror stems. When you consider that the right and left sets of hardware on most motorcycle handlebars are anything but symmetrical, this left the speaker placement in a visually unbalanced position.

A quick solution was found though. Take a look at these babies… Needless to say, they are already shipping to my house and once I have them, I’ll be switching the mount right away. YAY!

 

 

 

Use:

Dead easy. It’s that simple. Mounted to the left side of the handlebars I can control with a single touch, power, mute, and volume. This allows me to minimize the amount of time my hand isn’t where it really belongs… on the grip.

Sound Quality:

One common issue with any sort of external sound source is what happens at higher speeds where wind noise is amplified. With the previous set up, I lost ability to hear my music at around 80 MPH. With this set up, while on the freeway at about 80 + MPH, I was able to listen to my cool-jams and even caught myself singing along with a couple of my favorites. Okay… you may not have needed to know that part but hey… it’s my ability to hear it clearly that causes me to forget I’m actually trying to judge the things. Another “yay” from me.

My Overall Assessment:

There are many sound solutions to fit the tastes and requirements of most motorcyclists these days. AM, FM, SAT Radio, MP3, etc… Some kits can run you several hundred dollars and require a lot of work to install and cleverly bury components under fairings and such. This is a low-cost, solution with what I’d like to call the mechanical equivalent to “plug-and-play” installation, sounds great, displays sexy chrome (or black) speakers, and costs WAY less than a hundred dollars. Honestly, you can’t beat the value when you consider the sound this little unit produces.

 

General, Product Reviews

Owing to some minor damage to the bike, from my too-fast, too-tight turn against an opposing camber, I found myself in the position of having to swap out my shifter. So rather than stick with the stock unit, I opted instead to complete the look of my driver boards with the Rivco heel-toe shifter . And as with any other cool new doo-dad for the beast, I was anxious and just a little excited to install it.

Installation:

Before I installed the new shifter, I had to remove the factory piece. Which took all of five minutes (including the time it took locating that elusive 11mm Allen wrench). Installation was rather simple because Rivco does a very good job of engineering their parts such that there is typically no requirement to replace anything. Well in this case I did have to replace the shift linkage bolt (provided by Rivco). Ten minutes later the installation was done and I was ready to ride…
Wait… not really. Before I could ride, I had to adjust the front and rear portion of the shifter to accommodate my foot, and position it so that it didn’t fall back lower than the driver board. That was the longest part of the installation and added about twenty more minutes of adjust-test-adjust-test iterations till just right. But once I had that dialed in, I was ready.

Road test:

Now I have never ridden with a heel-toe shifter and the first thing I noticed, was the sensation that my left foot was trapped. I could feel the rear portion against the back of my heel. But if I slid my foot forward and away from it, my riding position was… well… it was different. Fortunately this didn’t take too long to get used to.
My only complaint, and I suspect this is somewhat inherent to the use of a heel-toe shifter (the heel part in particular). Simply stated, there are far too many separate movements one must make to actually shift. For each up-shift action I had to;

• Lift my foot off the driver board
• Move it backward
• Heel down on the shifter
• Lift my foot and move it forward
• Set my foot back onto the driver board

I suppose this too, will take some getting used to but it certainly doesn’t lend itself to shifting quickly in those moments of aggression. Then again, maybe that’s a hidden blessing.

My overall assessment:

• The unit was easy to install
• It looks pretty damn cool
• Shifting with the rear portion requires too many separate movements
• Shifting with the front is the same as it is normally
• My foot no longer feels trapped

I’ll keep it on the bike for a while in the hope that shifting will, at some point, once again become second nature.

More later…

General, Product Reviews

I just took delivery on a shiny new Cardo Systems Scala Rider Q2 Multiset Pro.  It’s a 2-pack motorcycle communication system designed to allow for conversation between rider and pillion rider, from bike-to-bike, and by Bluetooth cell phone. It also pairs with your Bluetooth enabled GPS or MP3 player. I’ve been interested in reviewing a product like this for quite some time. I picked the Scala Rider in particular because  it’s the one that seems to be the most popular. Though there are others.

With my intention of reviewing this product, I reached out to the good folks at Cardo Systems… told them I’d like write about it. Asked if they would want to donate, or at very least loan me a kit for this purpose, and invited them to have some material participation in what ultimately made it to this post. Alas however, they never responded. I paid full retail for this puppy so I could tell you all what I think of it.  Of course this also means I wasn’t able to work out a deal like I did for the Lifesaver Traction Control Breaking System.

Specs and features (taken directly from the Cardo Systems website):

General

• Talk time: up to 8 hours
• Standby time: one week
• Weight: 33.5 gr / 1.18 oz
• Battery type: rechargeable Li-Po
• Charging time: 3 hours
• Rugged Design: Rain and snow resistant
• Certificates: FCC, IC,CE, Bluetooth
• Bluetooth^® version: 2.0, class 1
• Chip manufacturer: Cambridge Silicone Radio (CSR)

Intercom Features

• Bike-to-Bike intercom communication up to 700 m / 2,300 ft range (full duplex) in wide open terrain
• Rider-to-Passenger communications up to33 ft. / 10m range with all SCALA RIDER® models (full compatibility but not all features supported)

Audio Features

• Noise cancellation Microphone
• AGC technology: Automatic Volume Control according to speed and ambient noise
• VOX technology: Accept or Reject calls by voice commands
• Speaker Booster

Functional Features

• Fits all full-faced and 3/4 Helmets
• Quick-release mechanism for headset
• Two ultra-slim speakers – 5.7 mm (less than ¼”) thickness
• 4 large control buttons

Headset and Hands Free Profiles support

• Voice dial
• Last-number redial
• Call reject
• A2DP/AVRCP profile for wireless streaming stereo from MP3 player or other A2DP device

FM Radio Features

• 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz receiver
• 6 Station memory with Search and Store functions
• Automatic radio muting during incoming calls
• Radio On time: typical on avg. 8-10 hours

MP3

• Connect your MP3 player with the provided cable

GPS

• Transmit navigation instructions from your Bluetooth enabled GPS device

Charger

• 110/240V 50/60Hz Universal Travel Charger

Installation:

Default installation includes a two-piece clamp, fastened by two hex screws on the backside of the mountable unit. It’s meant to clamp onto the outer shell of the helmet, and is secured by those two screws (hex-key provided). Sadly however, the shell of my helmet – sans interior padding – was too thick (roughly a half inch) to accommodate the clamp. To address this, included with the kit is a stick-on solution that replaces the clamp. Personally I don’t like the use of glue or other adhesives on my helmets but realize that’s just a personal quirk.  Nevertheless, in my case this was the only solution, short of fabricating a new clamping mechanism. The manual included with the kit did an “OK” job of presenting the step-by-step instructions for both methods.

The speakers were pretty simple. They’re backed with Velcro and the kit also includes the mating pieces of Velcro. The speakers tucked nicely into the ear pockets of my helmet, with the wiring hidden behind the padding, which kept it all clean and out of sight, and keeps them from making physical contact with my ears. Two very good plusses. But, given the depth of the ear pockets, this proved to be bad for me (I couldn’t hear the speaker output). In my attempts to remedy this, I used soft foam and more Velcro to build up the inside of the ear pockets. Nope, that didn’t work because as it turns out, the speakers were now positioned well behind my ears. But being able to keep them inside the ear pockets I managed to find that sweet spot where the sound is at its optimum because the speakers are now les than a quarter inch away, and directly inline with my ear holes. Expect to play around with this until you have it the way you like it. I can say that volume and sound quality vary greatly depending on their position relative to your ears. Even in the enclosed confines of your helmet. Again, instructional information in the manual was “OK.”

Overall, installation on two helmets, including multiple attempts at positioning within the ear pockets, took about 20 or 30 minutes from start to finish. It was pretty straightforward, with easy to read, “OK” instructions, and rather simple in task. It required no special tools nor specialized expertise.

Testing

While limited in scope, I focused testing on the following:

• Controls – ease of use while wearing the helmet.
• Varying ambient noise – Accomplished by opening and closing the face shield on my helmet while riding at varying speeds. With and without my audio system playing.
• Varying distance – What is the max distance between units before quality begins to degrade? This is limited to the bike-to-bike (AKA secondary buddy intercom) communication.
• Cell phone – Bluetooth, VOX, and other cell phone functions similar to any other headset for your cell phone.

Controls:

Each unit is equipped with four buttons.  These are for volume up and down, and two multi-function buttons (some chording is necessary for the set-up functions but not for user-controls). The three things important to me with respect to user-controls are:

• Audible feedback needs to be consistent. It’s not. Sometimes it’s so feint that it’s impossible to hear while at speed. Others it’s so loud it feels like my head will implode. The good news is those loud blasts are very infrequent when using the unit under normal operation.
• Can be located and acted upon by feel only. While wearing the helmet, at 70 MPH it’s important to be able to press the buttons without too much work, by touch only… with very little concentration. This test passes nicely. With only 4 buttons in easy to find locations, this is actually one of the things I really like about the Scala Rider product.
• The controls need to be glove friendly. This for me is a semi-pass. Consider there are many different types of gloves riders use. Thick, thin, loose fitting, tight like a second skin, etc. I tested this with a pair of tight, second-skin gloves and it all just worked as expected. I then switched to looser fitting, mesh gloves and it was only slightly cumbersome. Lastly, I tested using a pair of thick, cold-weather gloves. Forget it! I was able to operate the buttons but it took too much concentration to make it safe.

Using the intercom feature and ambient noise: My initial tests were a disappointment.

• Using the Primary Buddy intercom feature (the one used for rider and pillion rider), initial attempts were in my kitchen with a partner helping out. Problems encountered were: Spotty ability to use the feature by voice only, spotty ability to use this feature by button control, and one side of the connection between the two intermittently dropped. This can only be described by “you’re breaking up, what did you say?”
• In an attempt to cure this problem I re-paired the two units using the instructions in the user manual. The pairing was successful but it did not eliminate the frequent drops.  Not good… not good at all.
• Sadly, there is no meaningful troubleshooting section in the manual. This in my view is a major blunder on the part of Cardo Systems’ technical writers. There is a reference to online support, but tell that to the guy who’s out carving up the canyons, in the middle of nowhere without an internet connection. Not good… not good at all.

Correcting a problem (aka Cardo Systems Technical Support): Since I was not able to remedy the problem myself, I took a look at the support section of the Cardo Systems website.

• FAQs did not address my specific issue and those that were close, didn’t help.
• I used a web-form to send a support request on May 12, 2011
• I got impatient and sent a standard email to support@cardosystems.com on May 13, 2011
• On May 13^th I received a detailed reply with a handful of troubleshooting tips. In my view, this was of the canned response variety, which tells me this is a known issue.
• Results of the suggestions sent by Technical Support: Long story made short, it fixed the problem. Longer story, I received tips on cleaning the contacts, positioning the microphone and the all-important complete unit reset. It worked. Testing can now resume.

Using the intercom feature and ambient noise (Testing resumed):

After fixing the intermittent drops noted above, field-testing consisted of the following:

• Riding at speeds up to 80 MPH.
• Riding with the face shield opened and closed.
• Riding with the sound system on and off.

Result: The simple explanation is this test passed quite nicely.

• Ambient noise did not come through. No wind noise, no sound from the stereo. This was with the face shield opened and closed. In fact, I learned later that the unit is designed such that it actually performs better when there is a lot of ambient noise. Pleasantly surprising and very cool.
• Using the voice-activated intercom works well but after 30 seconds of silence, the units go back into standby mode. This helps to conserve battery life but makes delays in the conversation an exercise in vocal finesse.
• Using the MC button to initiate the intercom connection has the advantage of the connection remaining active until the MC button it tapped again. This is good for those situations where you just want the ability to have simple but reliable conversation with your passenger.

Bike-to-bike intercom:

Due to the absence of any of my riding buddies having the Scala Rider systems, I was not able to test this feature. Perhaps I’ll test that later and report on it under a separate post.

Cell phone:

Pairing: Instructions in the manual were adequate in walking me through the pairing process for my cell phone. In this case the phone I used was the Apple iPhone.  Pairing took about a minute and was successful on the first attempt.

Sound quality: Tested while riding through the streets of Long Beach reaching top speeds of perhaps 40 MPH. This was done with the face shield in both the opened and closed positions.

• I could hear fairly well with only a couple moments where ambient noise made it difficult. Though I will openly attribute this to my inability to hear certain frequencies.
• The person who helped me test by being the other end of the call reported hearing wind noise that seemed to have been reduced when I closed my face shield.
• The person who helped me by being the other end of the call reported that I could be heard just fine. Note here that I made special attempts to keep my voice at what I consider to have been normal speaking volume.

VOX: I did not test any voice controls for cell phone use. Why? Because that stuff never works right, so any deficiencies that may have been found could easily be attributed to the overall paradigm of vocal control.

Button controls: With the units equipped with easy to find and execute buttons, the controls for the cell phone use were pretty easy. Call answer, call reject, and last number redial all worked as expected with no error or odd behavior.

Overall Assessment:

The Scala Rider communication system installs easily with no need for special tools or expertise. It seems to handle wind and other ambient noise quite nicely, with only the rare instance of unwanted sound getting through. Easy to use (by touch) controls make it a safe exercise when operating while on the move (unless you happen to be wearing thick gloves like those used for cold-weather riding). The user manual leaves a bit to be desired as it contains no real troubleshooting guides and very little in the area of definitions of terminology. The help section of the web site offers very little by way of self-help resources. But the technical support folks are responsive and my issues were corrected with their first response. Is this device worth the full retail price? I don’t know quite how to answer that. I suppose that’s going to be different for everyone so I’ll just say I paid for it and don’t regret doing so.

More later.

General, Product Reviews, Raves

Continuing on the theme of being a metro-biker and of my, at times unique, sense of style, those close to me are very aware of my fetish for cool watches. I also love the Triumph brand… so it makes sense that I own a couple Triumph watches. Actually, with the most recent addition to the collection (A birthday prezzie from my daughter and her boyfriend), I now have three Triumph watches. Two of which use an interesting clasp and that’s the thing on which I’d like to focus. Simply stated, it pops open at the most inopportune moments. Like when I’m riding, which of course offers just enough of a distraction to be dangerous.

I suspect it safe to assume Triumph isn’t really in the business of making watches. Rather I would believe they OEM watches from some other maker and simply attach their brand. So while I’m not really holding Triumph responsible for the problem, I am indeed holding Triumph responsible for correcting it.

Note the pictures. The clasp in question is a two-sided fastener that requires two separate closures. It has two buttons on either side of the mechanism and either can be depressed to open it. The problem is when riding, or doing just about anything else for that matter, if I flex my wrist just right, it presses against one of the buttons and that pops it open. It also seems to occasionally pop open with no apparent causative action on my part, though the frequency of that isn’t as great.

I have tried adjusting the watchband to be looser, tighter, just right (in terms of comfort), worn high or low on my wrist, all to no avail. Though it would seem wearing it tighter helps to mitigate the problem, it doesn’t entirely eliminate it.  Personally I blame it on a rather poor clasp design but will also state that I am not a mechanical engineer so I’m not really qualified to make such an assessment. I am however qualified to state it is a problematic bug that has the potential of being dangerous. I’d really like to see it fixed. And since it’s happening consistently on the two watches I own that have such a clasp, I think it’s safe to say it’s the design and not a bug with mine in particular.

So the question is; how do I remedy this problem? With a custom band it’s not like I can easily swap it out for something that utilizes a more traditional but more reliable mechanism. Nor am I a mechanical engineer so it’s not an option for me to design something myself. So… I’m looking for one of two things here; either someone reading this has the solution and can convey that to me. Or Triumph will read this and take corrective action. As long as I get my watches fixed I’ll take either.

More later…

General, Product Reviews

Nestled deeply in the joy of riding, is the love affair we have with our bikes. Being in love with our bike includes a collection of photos. Right? Any rider worth his or her salt likely has a host of pics of themselves with their bikes, their bikes in front of everywhere they have ever ridden, other people sitting on their bikes, their bikes after being freshly detailed, and the list goes on and on. The bummer though is we rarely get that awesome photo of us while actually riding. Sure some of us have been lucky enough to have someone riding pillion on another bike snap a few. But we rarely get to see ourselves in motion, in the perfect riding position, looking cool and well… you know what I mean.

It’s not some self-glorifying, vanity thing. Not at all. It’s seeded in the fact that our bikes are cool and we like to see ourselves when we’re looking cool. Human nature! How many times have you been riding past some strip-mall and watch your reflection on the store front plate-glass windows? Come on… admit it. You’ve done it! I know I have! Okay, maybe there is SOME vanity there but hey… we’re only human!

Well, if you ever get out to Southern California and find yourself riding through the hills of Malibu you simply MUST ride the famous Mulholland Drive up to The Rock Store . In July of this year I took such a ride (See my article on the Hills of Malibu), and on that route, as I negotiated the twisties, digging the feel of my floor boards dragging, was a pair of guys, strategically positioned on one or the other side of a rather nice bend in the road popping off pictures with their pro gear and logging hundreds and hundreds of incredible images. Each made available at Rock Store Photos (for a price of course).

Look at the picture at the top of this article. That handsome rider poised on the big Triumph in that cool riding position would be me! Note the detail in the picture is so clean that you can see I didn’t shave that day, and you can see a few scratches on the side of my tank. Heck, you can even see my pal Marvin the Martian clearly on the windscreen!

Photos are priced individually by the photographers themselves and are in fact quite affordable. They go through the painstaking process of cleaning up images, correcting color, and essentially bringing out your spirit as you ride by them. Thus satisfying the need for the much coveted “in motion awesome shot.” I took it a step further though and after receiving my images (delivered digitally right to your computer), I ordered a large print on canvas to hang in my office at home. Yeah… yeah, I know… vanity. But it’s a cool shot!

Note here that I am not receiving any compensation or commission or even a discount for my own image with the writing of this article. I’m posting it here because I know what riders like. And in my quest to point you all to the things I think are cool, I am presenting this to you just because it’s really bloody awesome! So, get your wheels to Malibu, jump on Mulholland, and get your image immortalized so you to can show people how bitchen you are while straddling your machine and digging into the twisties!

Product Reviews, Raves

Review: Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB)
And a special rebate offer for readers of Twist the Grip. Details at the end of this article.

Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB)
When brakes are applied, a pressure spike occurs that causes the brake pads to grab onto the high and low spots of the brake rotor. In panic or sudden braking situations where both the front and rear brakes are applied, the weight load of the motorcycle is shifted to the front of the bike. This causes a reduction of the rear wheel contact weight, such that up to 70% of the vehicle weight is shifted to the front. Effectively this “lightens” the back-end and that means the likelihood of rear wheel lock-up increases.

The TCB is a control valve that replaces the brake caliper banjo bolt and is designed to turn the pressure spike into a pressure wave, thus allowing the brake pad to apply an equal amount of pressure to the entire rotor. This has the benefit of more efficient use of the pads and rotors, as well as decreasing the ease with which rear-wheel can lock-up can occur.

Having experienced a rear wheel lock-up… at speed… several times…  I know firsthand that it’s a dangerous situation and regaining control of the bike is completely dependent on the rider’s skill , the capability of the bike, and the presence of mind not to panic. And in those situations, while my brain was yelling at me to “get off the brake!” my foot remained firmly planted.  Needless to say, this solution seems exactly what I need.  So my good friend Donivan and I each got one and tested them on our bikes. The following documents the installation, road testing, and overall impression of the device.

Test bikes:
We installed the device on two separate motorcycles.

• Bike 1, Mine: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Standard.
  • Roughly 25K existing miles on the bike with the last 10K miles on the current brakes.
  • Drive train including brakes and suspension are completely stock.
  • You can read about this bike here
• Bike 2, Donivan’s: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Touring model
  • Roughly 15K miles on the bike with about 5K miles on the current brakes.
  • Brakes and suspension are stock

Installation:
The lifesavers website has installation instructions that you can print out. It’s a fairly simple installation and from start to finish it took about 15 minutes per bike. This included bleeding the brakes. Keep one thing in mind, you’ll need to get replacement crush washers, brake fluid, and if your bike needs one, you’ll need to supply your own bleeding kit.

 

Locating the Banjo bolt on the brake caliper was easy, but I’d suggest checking your bike to be sure it’s located as easily as mine. An alternative would be that you can install the device at the master cylinder end.

Removing it was a fairly simple process, but be sure to put down some paper-towel because you will drip some fluid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When installing the new TCB, we added a little teflon tape just to give it an added seal. Note: be sure to use new crush

washers when you do this to ensure there’s a good seal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final step is bleeding the brakes. We used a bleeding kit that you can get from just about any auto-shop retailer. But you can use any bleeding technique that you are used to using.

 

 

 

 

 

Road test considerations:
We approached this with the mindset that testing of the device should include controlled scenarios that emulate sudden or panic stops, as well as real-world riding. And with that, the specific considerations were:

• Baseline information must be recorded prior to installation so we have something to compare it to once the device is installed.
• Braking from a variety of road speeds.
• Weight and load on the bike (single and two-up riding).
• Application of rear only or of both brakes simultaneously.
• Affect on stopping distance.

Note: Because this test and report were done in a single afternoon, what this eval doesn’t cover is if there are any long-tem implications with respect to the wear on brake pads, rotors, or any other part of the braking system.

Test results:
My initial results (with both bike 1 and bike 2) in all honestly were not all that favorable and I was concerned about the efficacy of the device enough to contact the CEO of Lifesaver to share my findings. Donivan did as well and he was able to return his for a refund and opted to return to his stock set-up. After some back and forth between myself and the CEO, with him conveying some tips and ideas, we settled on removing the originally installed valve and getting the next size up instead. And after installing that one I am happy to report… I am officially impressed! Read on!

Bike 1:

Straight line hard braking – rear brake only:

• 30 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.
• 60 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.

Straight line hard braking both front and rear brakes applied:

• 30 MPH.
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance.
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior
• 60 MPH
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior

Summary of testing:
With the originally installed device: On Bike number 1, the ability to lock the rear wheel actually increased in situations where the rear brakes only were applied. However when both front and rear were applied there was no locking except in one particular instance during a real-world ”panic-braking” situation from about 60 MPH. This occurred on a freeway ride where I got tangled up in traffic and a sudden slow-down. I hit the brakes hard and the rear wheel locked causing the bike to slide.

I elected to (a) keep the device on and (b) bleed the brakes a second time. The plan was to extend the amount of time and miles for testing, while at the same time being in contact with the Lifesaver CEO, who in the end opted to send me the next size up on the device. This, as noted above produced much more favorable results. I will note however that all tests with the new valve were under controlled situations and I have not yet had a real-world experience.

On bike number 2, Donivan’s overall impression was that the device did not perform as expected, produced the high-pitched whine, and allowed for rear wheel lock up. He took the device off and requested a refund. Which was granted.

Responsiveness from the Manufacturer:
Both Donivan and I were in constant email contact with Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesaver. In our communications we conveyed our testing results and initial impressions. Steve was responsive, gave some instruction, suggested a prolonged test and over-all stood behind his product indicating that after selling several hundred monthly, has had no requests for return/refund. Nevertheless, Donivan, as mentioned above, has returned his and a refund (not counting shipping costs) was granted. With the continued effort from Steve and the installation of the next size up I am happy with the level of attention and responsiveness from the company.

Overall assessment:
After settling with the appropriately rated valve, my overall impression is that the device has performed, under controlled testing, as advertised and I am happy with it such that I will be keeping it on the bike.

Take control of your breaking and get $10.00 for it!
My good friend Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesavers has kindly offered a $10.00 rebate for orders placed as a result of reading this article.
Here’s what to do:

• Visit the Lifesavers website and place your order.
• Payment is made via PayPal
• Use the discount code, “Karl” (no quotes) and proceed with your checkout.
• You will receive your $10.00 rebate with delivery of the TCB Valve.
• Offer expires July 15, 2010

General, Product Reviews, Raves

Article by Mark Turkel of
RideBellChain.com

Today it was quite warm and humid here in South Florida…it is also the day I decided it’s time to install the Honda Goldwing windshield air vent I purchased last month. Yeah, I have been procrastinating… Anyway, here’s what, how, and why:

I purchased the vent from Saber-Cycle.com – the cost was $29, with $6 for shipping. Not too bad at all!

It came with a template. I used masking tape to tape the template to the inside portion of the windshield, about 3″ up from the fairing in the center, because I was afraid of scratching the dash in my Royal Star Venture. If I do it to my “summer” windshield, I think I’ll lower it an inch, now that I know that I have the right tool for the job.

After taping on the template, I used a permanent marker to carefully transfer the lines to the front of the windshield. I then used a 2″ thick masking tape and covered the majority of the windshield so I wouldn’t scratch anything. Following that, I got an old sheet (while my wife wasn’t looking) and taped it around the front fairing, and then wrapped it around the inside to cover the dash and fuel tank, etc, again using more masking tape to “seal” out the plastic particles from when I cut the windshield. Since they’re going to be statically charged, they’ll stick to EVERYTHING, so this worked out great. After drilling and cutting I was able to get it all cleaned up with my handy shop vac.

The next step was to drill 4 7/16″ holes in the 4 corners, and this was also illustrated in the template, with an “x” in the center. I then used an exacto knife to “drill” a tiny divot in the plexiglass so the drill-bit wouldn’t skip. (I was smart this time!). When you drill out the 4 holes, use a higher speed on the drill, and don’t push hard – let the bit do the work. When you get through, be ready for it to pull the bit towards the windshield quickly since the hole is not yet “perfect”. Reverse the drill to back it out, then re-drill. Do NOT force it, as you will end up with a less than perfect hole, or worse – a crack.

Once the holes were drilled, I chickened out because I thought the handheld scroll saw was too bulky…so I took a ride up to Harbor Freight and bought this cutting tool. It cut through the plexiglass like “butta” and allowed me very precise control. Again, take your time and let the tool do the work, not your muscles. I cut INSIDE my lines, figuring that it’s better to be a bit small rather than too large — I can always take more off, right?

After I got the plexiglass removed, the then used a flat wood file to shave off the “fuzz” from cutting, and smooth out the line – don’t take off too much material, any jagged edges get covered up, so just worry about the fit.

We’re almost done! I needed the help of my lovely wife because the final step requires 4 hands. I replaced the 1/4″ screws supplied with 1/2″, and put a dab of blue (temporary) Loctite on each. The windshield on my bike must be thicker than the Goldwing, and this was a perfect fix. Make sure you clean the windshield well before final assembly (2 screws).

Here’s some pictures of the final product – looks clean and neat, and my test ride showed that it was a good decision, as I now feel the air coming through my helmet’s chin-vent very well!

So for a total of $50, including a tool that I will use again for sure, I added a nice mod to my bike. I can stay cool on warm days, and it also kills the vacuum behind the windshield so my wife and I will get more air. On the cold days (yes, we get some, too), I can simply close the vent.

Next week we’ll go two-up on the highway, and see how the change of airflow affects things for my wife riding behind me. Hopefully less buffeting.

That’s it for this week…don’t forget we have a Holiday SPECIAL running, and you can send a friend a ride bell for $9.99 (shipping included) and you’ll also get a free bell from a “secret Santa” in return! Now THAT is a deal!

General, Product Reviews

I recently came upon a fairly good deal on a Tomtom GPS unit so being the guy who hates paying full retail for anything, I bought it. My first task was to acquaint myself with it and found that it has all sorts of cool features. I can save “favorites” of different addresses, it has points of interest like the nearest Starbucks (because life must be filled with good coffee), I can set different color schemes including those for daylight or night-time, it tracks my speed and will even display the highest speed reached on a single trip, all sorts of user preferences can be set to do things like avoid toll roads.

Very cool.

Downside; the built-in speaker is the only way you can get the audio. There is no headphone jack and no Bluetooth. But it was such a good deal I couldn’t pass it up.

Now, being the guy who loves cool new gadgets for my motorcycle, I immediately set about adapting this handy little unit to the bike. Of course I knew the audio would never be loud enough to effectively compete with wind-noise (or my stereo), so I had to first make sure the visual navigation would be adequate. Simple answer; Yes!

Okay so my considerations were:

• Mounting to my handlebars such that I can easily see it and reach it when necessary (Remember, I’m blind in my right eye).
• Easy detach for security reasons.
• Delivering constant power to the unit without punching into the wiring harness.

Here’s what I did:

Doing a search online for “handlebar mount for Tomtom” I found Lido . These guys have all sorts of handlebar (and other) mounts for several of the GPS units out there. Including mine. YAY! For me, I chose the RAM mount for my Tomtom. And I came across a power cable that will deliver a constant 5-volt supply to the unit.

Okay, quick word about Lido. Since I didn’t know them well, I looked on Amazon.com for the same mount and found it. Having always had good experiences with Amazon, I ordered the mount from them. And the next day I ordered the power cable from Lido. The cable arrived several days sooner than the mount. So the lesson-learned here is, I should have just bought it all from Lido.

Okay, back to it. Having all the stuff necessary I set about putting it all together. The hardest part about the mount was deciding which side of the handlebars I’d put it on. The part itself came in two primary pieces that I put together with two screws to which I applied a bit of lock-tight (The duct tape of the motorcycle world). Then it was a simple mount to the bars.

The power cable was a bit trickier. Remember, my goal was NOT to punch into the wiring harness. First test; will it work with a simple ground to the frame? No… had to be wired directly to the positive AND negative terminals of the battery. So, I did that but added a push-button switch so I can cut power whenever I want. Why? Because I’m like that. I have no other explanation. End result is a sturdy mount, good visibility, and constant 5-volt power.

Road test time! Again… YAY!

I geared up, told my wife I’d be back and pulled out of the garage. I set the unit to navigate me to a local Starbucks. I picked it from the “points of interest” listing and intentionally picked one that I hadn’t visited. It took me there flawlessly. Next (after enjoying a cup of coffee) I had it direct me home. But, part way through the rout I intentionally took a few wrong turns. It recalculated on the fly and still got me home without my having to make a single U-turn.

Over-all:

What I like most about this unit is I can use it in both the car and on the bike. The RAM mount makes that easy because the unit pops securely in place and easily pops out (though I did almost drop it on my first try). Visually it’s easy to see and it’s position is such that I’m not distracted. I find it no different than looking at the speedo.

Bottom line; for less than $100.00 I managed to set up a GPS unit that will work in my car AND on my bike. I’ll be taking a ride from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area on a couple weeks and intend to take a different rout home. The GPS will certainly come in handy and this, IMHO will make for an excellent test in a real-world scenario.

So stay tuned…

Product Reviews

 

 

 

 

What a pain in the a…!! Those of us who love lots of chrome on our bikes know all too well the effort that goes into keeping it clean and shiny. And while I haven’t seen anything that will actually help to reduce the elbow grease that goes into it, I did manage to find a product that does a good job at keeping my chrome shining like it’s brand new! Read more…

Product Reviews

In my unending quest to locate and sample cool stuff, in the coming weeks I’ll be reviewing a couple pair of riding boots. My intent here will be to look at two different styles as well as a couple different manufacturers. So with that in mind I have the following boots: Read more…

Product Reviews